Conor O'Carroll

The FOI Files is a series from our team at The Journal Investigates. Each week, one of our investigative journalists brings you inside the fight for information that we’re all entitled to. They’ll share their documents, their stories – and tips on how to take the journey for yourself.

This week’s file is from investigative journalist Conor O’Carroll.

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A FEW MONTHS ago I noticed on the lobbying register that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) had met with the Minister for Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, to discuss Ireland’s Nations League draw.

Even the most passive sports fan will know by now that alongside Kosovo and Austria, the Republic of Ireland men’s soccer team was drawn against Israel, with the first match set to take place in Hungary this coming Sunday.

Given the ongoing genocide in Gaza and strong support for Palestine throughout Ireland, I decided to send an FOI to the Department of Sport about this meeting to see what the reaction to the draw had been.

And unlike many of our recent FOI Files, the meeting minutes were released in full.

The meeting took place about two weeks after the draw was made in February this year and was attended by 13 people from the department and FAI.

Among them were the minister, the Minister of State, Charlie McConalogue TD, their various advisers and the Secretary General of the department.

The delegation from the FAI included Chief Executive David Correll, Chairperson Tony Keohane as well as the chief security officer for the FAI and the Director of the League of Ireland.

A screenshot of the meeting note showing those in attendance from the Department of Sport and FAI. The Journal Investigates The Journal Investigates

The meeting note reveals that the ministers were briefed by the FAI on their intention to fulfil the fixture with Israel, noting their “obligations as members of UEFA”.

This decision was “respected” by both ministers, according to the meeting note.

It was confirmed by the FAI in July that Ireland’s ‘home’ match against Israel, due to take place on 4 October, would be held in a neutral country without any fans in attendance. It was later confirmed that the game will take place in Serbia.

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But the released records show that before that decision was reached, the organisation was at least considering the possibility of allowing the game to go ahead in the Aviva.

Could the home match have gone ahead?

The meeting minutes describe how the FAI said they were engaging with the Norwegian Football Association, as well as An Garda Síochána, the Israeli Football Association and the Palestinian Football Association ahead of the fixture.

This is interesting because just a few months before the meeting, Norway had hosted Israel as part of their World Cup qualification campaign.

As part of this game, the Norwegian FA allowed a protest to take place outside the ground, for Palestinian flags and banners to be unfurled by fans inside the stadium and donated the match proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, the independent humanitarian aid body working in Gaza.

And while these decisions were not without scrutiny or controversy, the game went ahead without any major trouble off the pitch, while Norway won 5-0 on it.

Outside of those in Ireland calling for the FAI to refuse to play the game, many Irish fans would have preferred to see a similar decision to the Norwegians over giving up the home advantage to play in a neutral country.

But unfortunately, we don’t know the extent of the discussions between the FAI and the Norwegian FA or why the decision was ultimately made, as neither organisation is subject to an FOI request.

And so, the small glimpse from their meeting with the Department of Sport is all that we can access.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian FA confirmed that the meeting took place with the FAI, adding that they discussed how they prepared for their match against Israel “from an organisational, security and communicative perspective”.

The FAI did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

If you have a burning FOI question about how to get certain records or why your request was refused, you can get in touch with our team at investigates@thejournal.ie. The Journal Investigates team will be back with another instalment of The FOI Files next Tuesday.